Flu wisdom: Be prepared to be sick

Stock up now on chicken soup, juice and pain medication, health officials say.

Don’t slog your sick self into public places to collect your get-well kit after flu strikes. Your coughs and sneezes might make others ill. The CDC recommends isolation for people who think they’ve come down with influenza.

“One of the problems when people get sick is that they’re not equipped to stay home,” said Dr. John Jordan, the state health department’s medical director for the Houston region. “Think through if you had to stay home for a week. What would you have to do to accomplish that?”

It’s important to be prepared because clusters of flu illness have already shown up in local schools and colleges.

Classes began Monday at Prairie View A&M University and by Tuesday, 11 students had been diagnosed with Influenza A — the strain that causes swine flu. As of Tuesday, a week and a half into the Rice University academic year, 53 students have been seen at Student Health Services with flu-like symptoms and 23 tested positive for the flu. Whether any of the college students have H1N1 has not been confirmed. At HISD’s Poe Elementary, seven students had been sent home this week, 11 called in sick with flu symptoms and one staff member stayed home with illness.

With H1N1 continuing to circulate and seasonal flu on the way, health officials advise treating your flu readiness plan like any other emergency preparedness. That means getting stocked for the possibility that you or your child will come down with flu-like symptoms.